This demonstrates how powerful the conch is and how it represents leadership. Additionally, one of the first rules that the boys established involved the conch: "We can't have everybody talking at once""I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he is speaking.""And he wont be interrupted. Expect by me." With this rule, not only is the Conch proven once again to be a powerful object, but it also shows that the Conch symbolizes freedom of expression; whoever has the object, can speak freely, give an opinion without being interrupted. As you can see, in the beginning of the novel, the conch is a remarkably strong figure. It makes the boys behave well as if they were at school. However, the question is, will this situation keep going as the story continues? .
It was proven in the beginning of the book that the Conch is extremely significant to the group of boys. However, its power slowly deteriorates as the book progresses. Having said that, there are still proofs that the Conch is still a well-respected object on the island. For instance let's take Jack. He is a barbarous character that doesn't want to play with nothing but his own rules. Even he respects and acknowledge the power of the Conch. To speak, he always reaches out to the Conch, proving no one, even the most savage person on the island, is above the rules, above the Conch. However, as we move further into the book, it is shown that the almighty Conch begins to slowly lose influence on the boys. They begin to ignore the rules, showing that they don't care about order and rules. Whoever has the conch still has the right to talk, but is interrupted by the boys while it was ruled that Ralph was the only person who could interrupt. This is shown in Chapter Five when Piggy gives his opinion on the possible presence of ghosts on the island and is rudely interrupted by Jack: "I don't believe in no ghosts-ever!" "Who cares what your believe-Fatty!"3 Throughout Chapter Five and Six, Jack keeps challenging Ralph and the Conch until he finally leaves Ralph's tribe.
